Single piece shift and culotte with side slit



Sept. 29, 1970 A. G. WHITE 3,530,507

SINGLE PIECE SHIFT AND CULOTTE WITH SIDE SLIT Filed April 1, 1969 INVENTOR. A N a. Ivy 7E United States Patent 3,530,507 SINGLE PIECE SHIFT AND CULO'ITE WITH SIDE SLIT Ann G. White, 2965 19th Ave., San Francisco, Calif. 94110 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 585,363, Oct. 10, 1966. This application Apr. 1, 1969, Ser. No. 830,559

Int. Cl. A41d N22 US. Cl. 2-71 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a one-piece garment wherein the lower portion is divided into legs with a low crotch seam, in order to free the legs and body without taking off the entire garment, an openable side seam is provided on at least one of the legs which side seam extends from the hem to at least above the waistline or higher, whereby the divided portion of the garment can be opened and pulled aside for access for functions of nature; openable closure means such as slide fasteners, are provided to normally hold the side seam closed.

BACKGROUND OF THSE INVENTION The one-piece garment with the divided lower portion is in the herein illustration a one-piece shift, the lower portion of which is divided into legs similar to a culotte, and the openable side seam may be formed on either side, although the illustration herein shows it on the left leg which side seam extends from the hem of that leg to above the waistline and is provided with a suitable fastener to open from the hem of the leg upward.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a developed view of the patterns for the garment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the garment.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the garment.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the garment showing the slide fastener open and rear of the culotte lifted back.

The one-piece garment herein is made of four parts, 1, 2, 3 and 4, sewn together. Each part is substantially one-fourth of the entire combination shift and culotte. The four parts are cut from two patterns so that there are two pairs of symmetrical parts, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, which, when sewn together produce a front center seam 5 and a back center seam 6 and a side seam 7 on each side. The front or rear seams may be partly open and be provided with buttons or slide fasteners 8 from the neckline 9 to the waistline 10 so as to permit the garment to be pulled on the users legs and then up to her shoulders. An arms eye 11 is provided on each side of the neckline 9 to permit insertion of the arms or the setting in of sleeves.

All garments heretofore made in one piece with a divided lower portion forming legs had to be removed entirely to accommodate for functions of nature. Fasteners in the usual places in front or rear of the crotch do not allow sufiicient freedom to allow the pulling down of the usual undergarment and therfore will not accommodate unless the entire garment is removed. Also such front or rear openable seams would cause irritating and unsightly bulges.

The herein improvement is the provision of an open seam 13 along the outside of either leg but preferably as shown on the left leg portion 14 from the hem 15 to above the waistline 10, and the provision of a suitable fastener for holding the side seam together at will. The fastener may consist of suitable buttons but preferably a slide fastener 16 is used. The slide fastener 16 herein opens from its lower end 17 upward so as to permit separation of the seam at the hem 15.

The resulting combination has the appearance of a dress, although it covers the legs in breeches fashion by reason of inverted pleats 18 in the center seam of the front and back at the culotte portion of the garment. The center seams 5 and 6 include crotch seams 19 from front to center and back to center so as to divide the skirt portion into the breeches legs. The openable left side seam 13 from the hem 15 of the leg portion to above the waistline 10 provides, for the first time, for the convenience as herein described, in such one-piece dress and culotte. The crotch seam 19 is so formed that it is nearer to the hem 15 than to the waistline 10. It is important that the crotch seam 19 be sufficiently low to be located about half way between the crotch and knee of the person wearing the garment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The illustrative embodiment of this garment is pleated as indicated in broken lines in FIG. 1. Part 1 is the shape of the pattern for one-half of the front of the dress. The vertical line above the line of the crotch seam 19 is to form the front seam 5. Broken line 21 indicates the crease of the pleat 18. The lower portion of part 1 between the broken line 21 and the crotch line 19 is folded under the remaining portion of part 1 so that a crease is formed on the broken line 21 in extension of the upper front seam line 5. Then the folded portion is folded back upon itself along the other broken line 22 which extends from about the middle of the horizontal line 23 to the hem so as to bring the corner 24 of the crotch line 19 into registry with the intersection of the front seam line 5 and the horizontal line 23, thereby forming one-half of the front pleat 1'8 and positioning the crotch line 19 in continuation of the front seam line 5. The lower portion of part 3 which is the pattern for one-half of the back of the dress, is similarly pleated so as to bring the corner 24 of the crotch line 19 in registry with the intersection of the horizontal line 23 and the back seam line 6. After this half of the back pleat 18 is so formed the lower vertical lines 26 of parts 1 and 3 are sewed together from the crotch line 19 to the hem 15, to form the inside part of a substantially cylindrical leg portion. Then parts 1 and 3 are placed in superimposed position and the side seam lines 7 are sewed together thereby forming one longitudinal half of the garment and the outside part of the leg portion. The parts 2 and 4 are formed similarly and form the other lognitudinal half of the garment. Then the respective front and back seams 5 and 6 are sewed, as well as the crotch lines 19.

As heretofore described, the side seam 7 on the lefthand side is open from the hem 15 to above the waistline 10 and the slit is provided with a slide fastener 16 or the like to be openable from the hem 15 upwardly.

I claim:

1. In a one-piece dress type garment the lower portion of which is divided to form leg portions and having a hem, a waistline and a neckline,

(a) a pair of continuous panels extending the full length of said garment and secured together along their adjacent side edges to form longitudinally continuous right and left halves of said garment,

(b) the matching edges of the opposite longitudinal halves being secured together to form respectively a back seam, a front seam, and a crotch seam in continuation of and between the lower ends of said back seam and front seam,

(c) said crotch seam being spaced from said waistline so as to be located at least about halfway between the crotch and the knee of the wearer of the garment,

(d) the lower portion of the panels forming each right and left half between said crotch seam and said hem being joined to form a substantially cylindical leg portion,

(e) one of said leg portions having an open slit along the outside thereof extending from the hem to above the waistline of the garment thereby to be openable for lifting the lower back portion of the garment and shifting the crotch seam toward the opposite side for uncovering the lower portion of the body of the wearer of said garment, and

(f) openable closure means for closing and opening said slit.

2. The garment defined in claim 1, and

(g) said openable closure means being openable from the hem toward the waistline for opening said portion from the hem upward.

3. The garment defined in claim 1, and

(g) said openable closure means being a slide fastener openable from the hem upward to permit upward separation of said leg portion.

4. The garment defined in claim 1 and the lower portions of said longitudinal halves adjacent said crotch being formed into longitudinal pleats to complement the lower portion of said garment into a skirt-like appearance.

5. The invention defined in claim 1 and said lower portion of each panel below said back seam and front seam being folded longitudinally into a pleat from the top of the crotch line to said hem in alignment with the respective back seam and front seam.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,255,143 9/1941 Alexander 2-71 2,376,247 5/1945 Griswold 2-71 2,758,312 8/1956 Goldstein 2-212 3,315,274 4/1967 Roody 2-71 H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Primary Examiner 

